Top Ten Things Overheard On Swindon's Buses Last Week ; 471

Click here for the original at this brilliant idea, here's our own version for Swindon's buses from last week.

10. They're only just covering their costs.

9. I had the melt, it was frozen.

8. The salad they had tasted like it was on fire.

7. You're just sat there waiting for something to go wrong.

6. Keep looking and I'm sure you'll find what you're searching for.

5. Tai keeps on at me to change my address, but I don't have another one.

4. Come on, get your stuff, we've arrived in dodge.

3. I wrapped the scarf around the side of my head and carried out until I couldn't see them anymore.

2. There's a bottle of it that I got reduced to 37p, it tasted like bubble gum.

And the number one overheard phrase on Swindon's buses from last week is...

1. She's come back again, even though they sacked her twice.

Overheard something we've missed? Then let us know.

Top Ten Things Overheard On Swindon's Buses Last Week ; 470

Click here for the original at this brilliant idea, here's our own version for Swindon's buses from last week.

10. I always go to Vegas and see the shows, I love the classiness.

9. It was at number one for so long even my gran knew it.

8. It lashed down and ended up being hail.

7. The jump was so far he fractured his wrist in about three places.

6. When they danced it spoke volumes.

5. If you put the sauce on first it doesn't taste as bad.

4. Keep that on your lap and I'll push it if it slides.

3. I've got to go all the way back and collect my badge before my holiday.

2. It's new but it looks really old like it's going to fall to pieces.

And the number one overheard phrase on Swindon's buses from last week is...

1. Her toilet hadn't been connected up yet and there was a poo done in it.

Overheard something we've missed? Then let us know.

Top Ten Things Overheard On Swindon's Buses Last Week ; 469

Click here for the original at this brilliant idea, here's our own version for Swindon's buses from last week.

10. There were four to start with, I don't remember buying them.

9. He claimed he'd been set up, nice fantasy.

8. Kay reckons it won't be long before he gets sent to Cardiff.

7. It got fixed, it's only taken two years and about half a dozen visits.

6. A salad was tried, with little success from the males that were there.

5. It's all gone new and I hate to admit I don't always understand it.

4. The warmth will come back if we give it a chance.

3. When you're living it, it's slightly different.

2. That man will make or break the shop.

And the number one overheard phrase on Swindon's buses from last week is...

1. They got back in, they could set fire to the town and people would still vote for them.

Overheard something we've missed? Then let us know.

Top Ten Things Overheard On Swindon's Buses Last Week ; 468

Click here for the original at this brilliant idea, here's our own version for Swindon's buses from last week.

10. That man's coming on right now.

9. The food is just plain nasty.

8. Don't say you can't move, look at all that room.

7. It's time to leave, this is pretty much my stop.

6. Those sweets are making me sick, take them away.

5. Call your friend and tell them what I just told you, go on.

4. You need to use metal supports to make sure they can stand up.

3. I was told he was keeping it secret that there was no more money to run it.

2. You can act all civilised, but it does not take away that you're mostly really rude.

And the number one overheard phrase on Swindon's buses from last week is...

1. If I had loads of money, I'd still live next to you, I suppose.

Overheard something we've missed? Then let us know.

Top Ten Things Overheard On Swindon's Buses Last Week ; 467

Click here for the original at this brilliant idea, here's our own version for Swindon's buses from last week.

10. It's got less sugar but more colouring.

9. Some of the sites I've been on are not fit for human consumption.

8. The fox will end up coming after me if I disturb it.

7. Water was as tall as this and I had no choice but to wade through it.

6. I saw them in Iceland and bought enough to fill the compartment with.

5. He got stuck inside then decided he needed to see daylight and went in the garden for a bit.

4. She's never seen a badger in person.

3. Make me wait up for it and I'll be asleep before the weather at the end of the news.

2. If you go that way you'll end up in the middle of that weird park with the noisy trees.

And the number one overheard phrase on Swindon's buses from last week is...

1. Nothing from the yellow lot, but then again yellow paper isn't easy to find.

Overheard something we've missed? Then let us know.

Swindon Elections - The Long Bluh Shadow

Despite it being over six years since Rod Bluh was Swindon Conservative leader, his comments have rankled the current members into a long and rambling statement.

From Brexit to not living in the ward, to the track record of the Tory candidate and finally a swipe at Corbyn, it seems like the person writing the statement has just cobbled together any old guff and sent it out.

The bluster of the Tory statement shows just how much sway they believe Rod Bluh's comments hold with voters.

But of course, they won't admit it.

Maybe tomorrow night's results will reveal the Tory vote slowly sinking into the marshy ground of Wichelstowe, clucking away about anything it doesn't like.

Swindon Elections - Is Dale's Dream Dead?

Remember it being said that councillors who get hold of their own library end up moaning about litter in the rain?

For Dale Heenan, it appears to have just started lashing down.

Covingham Parish Council are no longer willing to part-fund Covingham Library run by Dale's trust. From reading the Parish meeting minutes from January, it seems the Parish was under the impression their funding was to allow the Trust to get on it's feet and eventually be self-funding (or maybe through monies from elsewhere). This does not seem to have come to fruition, and a request for funding for the 2019/20 year from the Parish for the library was received. Not only that, the Library Trust requested an increase of a thousand pounds on the amount it received from the Parish in previous years.

With lack of accurate usage figures for Covingham Library, the Parish have not been able to work out if they are getting value for money and therefore have stopped their funding.

As you can imagine, Dale is not happy, as seen in this part of one of his election leaflets from this month.

It seems there was a reaction from the local community to the news, but it was rather muted. According to the March Parish Council minutes, two residents asked questions in person, and four emails on the topic were received (one of them from a Friends of Covingham Library member).

It's quite telling that the Swindon Community Library Trust (set-up to takeover Covingham Library and Liden Library when the Borough Council withdrew their own funding) has a website that has not been updated for nearly a year (the last news story being about a beer festival in June 2018). 

Things seem to have gone full-circle, with the quiet news that the Borough Council has decided to keep it's main 5 libraries as Borough Council entities and to not create a charitable trust to run them. The Borough Council seem to have realised that keeping the main libraries centralised allows them to be easier to run and meet council aims. A startlingly vibrant revelation indeed, but a boringly sensible and right decision none the less.

Where does this leave the libraries run by the Trust? Only Dale can answer that. But he's busy in the town centre, appearing to suggest that if people vote other than Tory at this week's local elections they risk causing Debenhams to close. 

That's quite a desperate and daft suggestion (Maybe Tories in Wroughton and Wichelstowe are using the same tactic, suggesting to their voters that a Lib Dem victory will cause Waitrose to walk away from Middle Wichel?) . But considering he said in the same story that the Oasis ski slope is to be in the town centre (the site at North Star is not in the town centre, it's in North Star), it seems his grasp of geography is like his grasp of library funding, not quite to scale.

Has anyone checked the maths on the Dale idea of selling off the Civic Offices plan to pay for the new museum and art gallery and Wyvern? 

Get out the slide rule and the correcting fluid... make sure it doesn't get washed away in the pouring rain.